QUANTICO, Va. – Amid a notable temperature drop and the first hint of autumn, 657 finishers completed the Crossroads 17.75K in Prince William County, Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 17. Most of the participants who competed in the unique distance race that honors the 1775 establishment of the United States Marine Corps agreed “it was a beautiful day for running.”

A very tight finish for the top three male runners saw Keith Levasseur, 33 of Columbia, MD win in 1 hour, 5 minutes, 29 seconds, one minute and one second faster than runner-up Marine Maj. Jason Kut who completed the run in 1:06:30. Kut was only six seconds ahead of third place finisher Lt. Col. Alex Hetherington, USMC (Ret.) who clocked 1:06:36. Kut most recently was the top finisher at the RunStock 5K on Aug. 20. Hetherington is a member of the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Hall of Fame.

“Crossroads is a fun and tough course but it’s fair … for every up there’s a down,” said Levasseur after he completed running the hills and valleys through Prince William Forest Park, the location for about seven miles of the Crossroads 17.75K course. The total distance equates to 11.03 miles.

“I like the Crossroads race, it was challenging but not too bad and seeing all of the Marines along the course was inspiring,” said Amanda Roache, 24 of Manassas, VA, the top female finisher. Roache was followed by returning Crossroads 17.75K participant Melissa Wisner, 28, of Washington, DC as she placed second, finishing in 1:19:06. Marine 2nd Lt. Emily Eckman, 28, of Quantico placed third (1:21:04).

Rounding out the awarded winners were Masters runners Marine Maj. Billy Ramsey (41) of Stafford, VA, who finished in 1:09:15, and Heidi Durgan, 46, of Quantico, VA, who finished in 1:24:49.

All participants enjoyed a spectacular finish at the National Museum of the Marine Corps with the majestic glass spire glistening behind them. There was plenty of fun at the finish with MCM mascots Miles and Molly along with Chesty #13, the English bulldog mascot of the United States Marine Corps and in-your-face Drill Instructors motivating runners to push to the finish.

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about